It was difficult to recall whether this was 1989 or 1990 from this distance in time. Luckily, a wee board dl from etree helped jog the memory. The Tree was sort of a dump, but hey, we sat in a booth right behind Fishman. By the end of the night, 80% of the room was filled with familiar northern New England faces from all walks of our lives–summer, high school, college, wandering. Burlington and Portsmouth scenes meeting Portland. Cool.

As was always the case in those days, this show was LOUD. I'm talking about ear-ringing-this-is-the-last-concert-on-planet-earth-loud. We bought a round for the band (Mexican cousin variety), and laughed, danced, jumped around and had a generally rollicking good time. The sidewalk scene between sets was gabby, and despite the January night, the Tree was steamy hot inside. Divided Sky was always my highlight back then, and this one rocks.

Was it really 21 years ago? That's hard to believe. Well, when I consider our energy levels then compared to now, I guess it is believable.

This was a very high-energy show to hear, although not a complete recording, it’s still a great “Lawn Boy era” show. Also, it was their last performance at the Tree Café.

I’m assuming we are missing at least 30 to 45 minutes of music in the first set as the recording cuts in half way through a pretty good Antelope. Tela still has rough spots. D-Sky was good and solid. The vocals get dialed in a bit more with another Carolina. And then the obligatory Zeppelin cover song to end the first set? Page belts out Communication Breakdown and I can see why this one didn’t last too long as a cover. Very interesting back half of the first set.

The new Coil starts off second set and I guess for the first time Page gets a mini solo at the end. It still has rough parts, but it’s new. Melt also had some timing problems from Mike and Fish, but a rocking jam. Trey had problems with the lyrics of Esther and then the recording cuts to the beginning of a really solid Reba. They lock in pretty well all the way through and then continue the trend through Jesus, Bag and Lawn Boy. My Sweet One had some timing problems with Fish, but not too bad. Foam was nice and tight and a pretty solid Caravan rounds out the recording as it cuts off again…

Not a bad half show to hear, just wish there was more of it to hear. I’m going with three stars.

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